On US midterm election day, tech billionaire Elon Musk published a brief post on X: "Vote 'red' today!"
Yet within hours of Democrats scoring a sweeping midterm victory, that post urging support for Republicans had vanished from Musk's X profile timeline.
Early Wednesday, as election results became clear, he appeared to change his tone, poking fun at himself on X over his failed big-money campaign effort. He wrote: "Looks like my space lasers for election interference didn't work this time."
In another post, he said: "Space data centers are looking pretty tempting right about now."
The Tesla Motors (TSLA) and SpaceX chief executive was the single largest individual donor of this midterm cycle, pouring more than $440 million into supporting Republican candidates and frequently using X to mock Democratic rivals.
Texas — where Musk has relocated the registrations of both SpaceX and Tesla — became a key focus for him. He reportedly spent $224 million during the state's campaign season backing Republicans; he also called Democrat and now Senator-elect James Talarico a "far-left extremist," a "repulsive guy," and a "thoroughly awful human being" on X. Those posts remain visible.
The US midterm results could have a major impact on Musk, touching on areas including regulation, contracts, and policy. On Wednesday, as investors digested the election results, shares of both Tesla and SpaceX fell. Stocks of data center companies also traded in the red.
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